HISTORY

Abul Khair Group (AK Group) is a one of the largest Bangladeshi industrial conglomerates. AK Group was established in 1953 by Abul Khair, a pioneer Industrial leader in the private sector. The industries under this conglomerate include cement, steel, consumer goods, tobacco, edible oil etc. Their first business was in the tobacco sector when they produced and marketed Abul Biri. After a few years, they started expanding their business range to other business sectors. Now, their professionalism and managerial skills have made them one of the best and most successful companies in Bangladesh. The most important company of Abul Khair Group is Abul Khair Condensed Milk and Beverage Industries Limited. They manufacture, pack and sell powder milk, condensed milk, juice, flavored milk, tea, snacks and drinks. Abul Khair Group follows the ISO and HACCP standard to each and every word. With the foresight and belief in the potential of a building nation, the story of Shah Cement began when Abul Khair Group built the largest cement producing plant in Bangladesh. Keeping up to their parent company's impeccable image, Shah Cement uses state-of-the-art technology at every stage of the manufacturing process, producing the finest quality of cement for sustainable and durable construction. Regarded as the best standard of quality in the cement industry of Bangladesh, Shah Cement offers both ordinary Portland Cement and Composite Cement in two categories suitable for any kind of construction. In terms of quality, the raw material clinker plays the most vital role, which for producing Shah Cement, comes mainly from Indonesia and from some other parts of Asia. Shah Cement Industries Ltd, the largest cement producing plant in Bangladesh uses state-of-thePage

art technology in all areas of its production and produces the finest quality cement fit for sustainable & durable construction. Shah Cement Industries Ltd is aware how important commitment to quality specification during production process is to people who spend their lifetime savings in building their houses. Hence, highest quality standard is consistently followed. Shah Cement Industries Ltd serves the market with our two brands of cement1. Shah Cement Special 2. Shah Cement Popular Shah Cement Industries Ltd also has a concrete solution with the name of- Shah Cement ReadyMix Concrete

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MISSION
Being the first choice of our valued customers, Shah Cement Industries Ltd is fully aware of the trust and responsibility they have entrusted upon us. Building materials from Shah Cement are used every day to build the future of the country. By making the essential products of modern life widely available, Shah Cement is realizing its vision as the leading partner in the infrastructural development of Bangladesh.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Michael Porter introduced the value chain analysis concept in his 1985 book The Competitive Advantage. Porter suggested that activities within an organization add value to the service and products that the organization produces, and all these activities should be run at optimum level if the organization is to gain any real competitive advantage. If they are run efficiently, the value obtained should exceed the costs of running them i.e. customers should return to the organization and transact freely and willingly. Michael Porter suggested that the organization is split into primary activities and support activities.

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PRIMARY ACTIVITIES

Inbound logistics: Refers to goods being obtained from the organization's suppliers and to be used for producing the product.

Operations: Raw materials and goods are manufactured into the final product. Value is added to the product at this stage as it moves through the production line.

Outbound logistics: Once the products have been manufactured they are ready to be distributed to distribution centers, wholesalers, retailers or customers. Distribution of finished goods is known as outbound logistics.

Marketing and Sales: Marketing must make sure that the product is targeted towards the correct customer group. The marketing mix is used to establish an effective strategy; any competitive advantage is clearly communicated to the target group through the promotional mix.

Services: After the product/service has been sold what support services does the organization offer customers. This may come in the form of after sales training, guarantees and warranties.
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With the above activities, any or a combination of them are essential if the firm are to develop the "competitive advantage" which Porter talks about in his book.

SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
Support activities assist the primary activities in helping the organization achieve its competitive advantage. They include:

Procurement: This department must source raw materials for the business and obtain the best price for doing so. The challenge for procurement is to obtain the best possible quality available (on the market) for their budget.

Technology development: The use of technology to obtain a competitive advantage is very important in todays technological driven environment. Technology can be used in many ways including production to reduce cost thus add value, research and development to develop new products and the internet so customers have 24/7 access to the firm.

Human resource management: The organization will have to recruit, train and develop the correct people for the organization to be successful. Staff will have to be motivated and paid the market rate if they are to sta y with the organization and add value. Within the service sector such as the airline industry, employees are the competitive advantage as customers are purchasing a service, which is provided by employees; there is not a product for the customer to take away with them.
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Firm infrastructure: Every organization needs to ensure that their finances, legal structure and management structure work efficiently and helps drive the organization forward. Inefficient infrastructure is waste resources, could affect the firm's reputation and even leave it open to fines and sanctions.

As you can see the value, chain encompasses the whole organization. It looks at how primary and support activities can work together to help the organization create a superior competitive advantage. If an activity is performed well it is said to add value.

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VALUE CHAIN COMPONENTS FOR SHAH CEMENT LTD.

Primary Activities

Inbound logistics: Cement has been using clinker, fly ash, slag, limestone and gypsum of world class quality as raw materials, which are imported directly under their own supervision from Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea. The imported raw materials are preserved in a weather-protected place to maintain the quality of materials intact.

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Operations: Shah Cement is manufactured in a close circuit system which is containing ultra modern technology. The Fineness assured by the modern German technology O Sepa and all the manufacturing process is fully computerized. To become a pollution free factory we use Dust Collector technology. Belgium based CFD (Control Flow Dia-Pharagram) technology assured high class grinding. At the same time to maintain the quality of the product at silo we use Root Blower for air pass which makes the cement fresh and fine.

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Raw Materials Shah Cement is a fine powder that is made with four key elements; Slag Limestone Clinker Fly Ash

Which when mixed with water undergoes chemical change and thereafter allowed to set and harden is capable of uniting fragments or masses of solid matter together to produce a mechanically strong material.

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Portland Composite Cement is one of the products of Shah Cement. And the cement of the best quality and most suited to the atmosphere in Bangladesh is Portland Composite Cement.. Characteristics: Uses Bridge, Fly-over, runway, RCC road, ready-mix concrete Pre-staged concrete element Any construction work in saline water In every kind of construction work. Ensures longevity Ability to radiate heat Prevents attacks of sulfate or salinity. Prevents bases. Easily storable Prevents quick reduction Ensures solidification in the correct time The strength increases with time Strengthens for a longer time period The cement is always fresh.

Portland Composite Cement composition for making is given below.

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Outbound logistics: Shah Cement is committed to global standards in both production and distribution and also with regard to environmental and social responsibility. Regarded as the best standard of quality in the cement industry of Bangladesh. Shah Cement provides the most professional, informative, loyal and dedicated service in the industry. The best interests of our clients will always come first and we will place the clients' concerns ahead of our own in each and every transaction, as we are dedicated to the development of long-term client relationships! Shah Cement is dedicated to delivering exemplary service in a quality home environment. And the main and most reliable mode of transport is Shah Cements own delivery trucks.

Supply Chain Management The factory of Shah Cement is situated at a strategic location which is rich with raw materials such as lime stone clay, gypsum, and iron ore. The mines of these raw materials are owned by the factory. These raw materials are transported to the manufacturing plant through trucks. The raw materials such as coal and furnace oil are imported. Although Bangladesh land is rich in coal mines, but the quality of the coal produced is not good. It produces greater amount of fumes and ashes and even catches fire if exposed to sunlight. Hence good quality of coal is imported from countries such as Indonesia and china.

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Marketing and Sales: Prices of different brands of cement of the country increased significantly for what the millers said coping with the rising overhead costs. According to the dealers and the retailers, the price of per bag cement of all brands increased by Tk 22 recently. Besides, a few months ago the millers had also increased the price of a bag of cement by Tk 20 due to the same reason, which is now TK 375 now. The marketing department of any company is very vital. And Shah cement is doing an excellent work regarding sales as statistics for, Yearly Total Consumption (MT), Average consumption/year (MT), Market Share are 1,948,189.00, 162,349.08 and 14.2% respectively. And as for marketing activities for Shah Cement, it is very active and effective. The company is utilizing its resources to keep the fight with the competitors.

Services The customers are provided with guarantee and for doing so the company provides service such as, check for setting. Take some quantity of cement, make it to a paste, place it on a plate and give it a square shape. Immerse the same slowly in to a bucket of water. Check that it has not lost shape and that it hardens after 24hr. And also gives advice to customers who require it.

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Support Activities Procurement: The Shah Cement Industries Ltd uses raw materials of the best quality coming from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Australia. For example- Clinker, Slag, Fly Ash and Lime stone. Before importing, the quality is checked by PSI (Pre-shipment Inspection). The imported goods are unloaded from the ships at the private harbor of the company, from where they are carried to a specially made storehouse by a conveyor belt. Every measure for keeping the quality the same is maintained there.

Technology development: Shah Cement is manufacturing in a close circuit system which is containing ultra modern technology. The Fineness assured by the modern German technology O Sepa and all the manufacturing process is fully computerized. To become a pollution free factory we use Dust Collector technology. Belgium based CFD (Control Flow Dia-Pharagram) technology assured high class grinding. At the same time to maintain the quality of the product at silo we use Root Blower for air pass which makes the cement fresh and fine.

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With the development of technology Shah Cement also uses software in production for various reasons. And the usage and Benefits of software are as follows. To maintain the ratio: While we visited Shah Cement we found that they use few raw materials to make the cement like clinker, fly ash, gypsum, slag, limestone etc. and they have a fixed ratio in order to make the cement. The main motive of using such ratio is to maintain the quality of the cement as because the quality depends more or less on how the raw materials are being mixed to make it up to the final product that is world class cement.

Usage of software in terms of packaging: After cement is being produced the next and a very re. Important step is the packaging. Shah cement has a standard packaging system and they maintain a standard weight of every bag i.e. 50 kg. per bag. To maintain this standard they use software because if there is any defect or complain that the weight is not standard then it might affect the reputation of the company. So they are much more concerned in maintaining the standard weight through the software.
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Tracking maintenance through software: For their outbound logistics activities like to send the finished product to the different dealers and wholesalers Shah Cement uses software like every vehicle which is carrying cement has a tracker that ensures it has reached to its desired location. And this whole activity is maintained through software i.e. the tracking software. Cost reduction through software: Shah cements limited could efficiently reduce their overall costs due to the using of software as because many of the employees who were held in different positions in terms of both production and quality control are being replaced by these specialized software. Now they have only two people appointed one who is controlling the system and another serving physically in the mill room.

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Human resource management: Human Resource policy Developing people to deliver results in changing environment by their training and skills by their commitment and team spirit, by their foresight and resilience and by their dedication and loyalty. Human Resource Vision Objective Selection Method, Continuous Training and Development Competitive Wage & Salary Structure Well Defined Systems, Rules and Procedures Goal Oriented Appraisal System and Counseling Encouraging Openness, Participation and Cooperation Synchronizing Personal Aspirations with Organization Goals Enforcing Professional Values and Code of conduct Providing Opportunities for Growth and Advancement Prompt Grievance Attendance System Improving Quality of Life both on and off-the-job Discharging Social Responsibilities through the Institution of Seva Trust Reviewing Constantly and Improving Personnel Practices.

Human Resource is valuable asset to our organization. High Caliber young professionals with proven talents in diversified fields would be preferred, who can innovate for tomorrow and will be the face of the company. We offer job enrichment and enhancement opportunities at all levels. Right environment with latest infrastructure matched by knowledge and acumen of our professional make the promising future.

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CONCLUSION
In conclusion we have analyzed all the aspects of a Value Chain System. These are, PRIMARY ACTIVITIES; Inbound logistics, Operations, Outbound logistics, marketing and Sales, Services. And the SUPPORT ACTIVITIES, Procurement, Technology development, Human resource management. But the firm infrastructure has not been analyzed as due to the political instability we were not able to go and collect the required information. However, looking at the other aspects the value chain framework has been used as a powerful analysis tool for organizational strategic planning for nearly two decades now. The value chain framework shows that the value chain of a company may be useful in identifying and understanding crucial aspects to achieve competitive strengths and core competencies in the marketplace. The model also reveals how the value chain activities are tied together to ultimately create value for the consumer. The five primary activities and four support activities form an interdependent system that is connected by linkages. Analysts conducting the value chain analysis should break down the key activities of the company according to the activities entailed in the framework, and assess the potential for adding value through the means of cost advantage or differentiation. Finally, it is important to determine strategies that focus on those activities that would enable the company to attain sustainable competitive advantage. It is important to analyse the value chain of a company with the core competence at its very heart. The nature of value chain activities differs greatly in accordance with the types of companies and industries. The value chains of companies have undergone many changes in the last two decades due to advancements in technology facilitating change at a very rapid pace in the business environment. Outsourcing will cause major changes in organizations and their value chains, with significant managerial implications. Sources for finding information on value chain analysis include three

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years annual reports of the particular company and its key competitors, company websites, journal articles, and other reputed trade magazines etc. Use of other planning tools and techniques like Porters generic strategies, analysis of critical success factors etc. is suggested in conjunction with the value chain framework for a more comprehensive analysis of a companys strategic planning.

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